Newcastle business partnership boosts EV charging

Mobilize Power Solutions, electric vehicle charging specialist and part of Renault Group, has partnered with Connected Energy to offer customers a solution to locate battery energy storage units at EV charging sites.

Connected Energy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of second life battery energy storage systems (BESS) and all its systems in operation across the UK and Europe are currently made from second life Renault vehicle batteries. The partnership builds on this existing relationship with Renault and opens up new markets for the company’s used vehicle batteries.

The partnership will support locations for EV charging which otherwise lack an appropriate energy supply. There are around 30,000 public EV charging stations across the UK but as the demand for electric vehicles grows, many more will be required to meet the UK’s charging needs especially at workplaces and within fleet depots. However, an increasing problem is a lack of adequate power supply at sites and depots.

EV charging requires an electricity supply which is able to flex up and down by some 15kW to 350kW depending on the speed of the charge. It is common for sites to have less than 50 W flexibility, the gap between energy supply and maximum consumption, meaning they are defined as ‘grid constrained’.

Siting a battery on site can often be less costly than a power upgrade, and in some areas, it is simply physically impossible to bring in additional cabling and electricity.

In these locations, energy storage can bridge the gap, where it provides a buffer at peak times allowing the cars to charge directly from the battery. This solution has been successfully trialled in Germany and Belgium where two Connected Energy storage units are located on either side of a motorway balancing the grid between the EV chargers.

Matthew Lumsden Connected Energy CEO said: “Connected Energy has been collaborating with Renault for six years on second life battery energy storage technology and our system is a fundamental part of harnessing the circular economy to provide industrial-scale energy storage. This partnership builds on this relationship.”

Mark Dickens, managing director from Mobilize Power Solutions said: “This partnership makes it possible for many more sites to adopt an EV charging station at remote and challenging environments as well as workplace and transport hubs. Our collaboration truly depicts the value of a circular economy and helps meet carbon neutral targets.”

It also marks a break-through in carbon reduction and sustainability credits, because the battery energy storage units supplied by Connected Energy each provide a positive carbon benefit of 450tCO2e for every 1MWh installed compared with a first life energy storage unit.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily